


The Way To A Man's Heart

by Huntress79



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cute Jack Kline, Food Issues, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Jack being Jack, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25383841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: Dean’s been used to take care of Sam, to provide for everything his baby brother needed. He never expected that to happen, to fall in love with his brother. Or that said brother reciprocated in the way he did.
Relationships: Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester, Jack Kline & Dean Winchester, Jack Kline & Sam Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40
Collections: Eat Drink and Make Merry 2020





	The Way To A Man's Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StripySock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StripySock/gifts).



> written for Eat Drink And Make Merry 2020 and StripySock. Hope you like it!

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After their reunion in Stanford, it took Dean some time to get used to Sam’s “new” eating habits. Sure, his baby brother always had a tendency to go for the more healthier foods they were able to get as kids, but this, Sam only relying on some energy bars and the occasional salad, took the (negative) crown.

Time for Dean to take some action.

He started small, leaving small bags of dried jerky bits wherever he could, and once in a while, he saw Sam nibbling on some of the bits. Which in turn left Dean smiling all day.

Feeling encouraged by this little victory, Dean got bolder. Again, he started small, enticing Sam to have some grilled chicken or else with his salad, which Sam did after some grumbling about “pushy older brothers”. Nonetheless, after only some cajoling from Dean, Sam started to order his salads that way all the time on his own.

In the following years, Sam’s eating habits got gradually better, and to Dean’s enjoyment, his little brother rediscovered meat and other things that were missing at the beginning.

Then Dean went to Hell.

And someone pushed a reset button on Sam’s food intake.

In the first few weeks after Dean’s surprising return, it was a more than welcome distraction from his own troubled mind and focus on making sure Sam eat properly instead. A true and tried way for Dean to deal with troublesome things since he was four years old.

But on the other hand, it was also his way to show someone how much he cared for that person. You even could say it was his way to say “I love you”, in whatever capacity the other wanted to understand it.

And truth be told, there was no other person on this planet Dean loved more than Sam.

Mostly as a brother, but in a dark, hidden corner of his mind as more than that.

But Dean also knew that his brother never, ever would reciprocate those forbidden feelings. First off, Sam deserved more than Dean could ever give him - a stable home, a family of his own. All Dean had to offer was the love he had in his heart.

He couldn’t be any wronger about it all.

Sure, when Dean returned from Hell, Sam was not only too shocked about it, he also was a bit too busy hiding his new powers from his brother to do anything about the feelings he had for Dean.

The next two years didn’t leave much space for anything at all, with the looming apocalypse, their apparent destiny of being the True Vessels on opposite sides, and Sam’s own turn for an extended stint in hell at their hands.

But even when Sam’s soul was left behind in hell, his heart never strayed far from the (forbidden) feelings for his brother. And yet, it should take until his body and soul were reunited, in the most literal sense of the word, for him to realize and comprehend them to the fullest.

Like Dean did after Stanford, Sam started small. He specifically ordered a piece of pie whenever he saw a diner had them on display. The smile Sam received from Dean for this small gesture was brighter than anything else he had ever seen, did things to him none of his previous partners had ever managed to do, and was, hands down, the most beautiful thing on this planet.

Sure, life still was trying its damndest to be a pain, but not even Dean dying in his arms, only to return as a demon, could derail Sam’s plans. If anything, Dean’s apparent struggle with his new demonic side confirmed what Sam had suspected for some time now - Dean also had feelings beyond being brothers.

At long last, they managed to get the demon out of Dean and become the well-oiled machine that was feared among all supernatural beings again.

The MOL bunker finally felt as much as home as the Impala did, to both of them, and when they took Jack Kline in, despite Dean’s misgivings about the boy’s parentage, they both became kind of father figures to the nephilim, along with Cas.

And somehow, Sam realized one morning while returning from a run, they both had finally what they ever wanted - a family (a quite dysfunctional one, though), a place to call home (and not just the cramped space of the car), and most of all, they had each other, come hell and high water.

Entering the hallway towards the kitchen, Sam heard both Dean’s and Jack’s voices, and he couldn’t stop the smile spreading on his face. Jack was, in some crazy, funny way, a mini-me of Sam, especially in terms of curiosity.

Hardly a day passed where the nephilim didn’t ask Sam, Cas or Dean about this thing or that, and Sam sometimes got the impression from Dean’s fond smile that his brother had kind of a déjà-vu with Jack, remembering the time when Sam was the same chatterbox, asking Dean a million questions a day.

“Morning, folks,” Sam called out while entering the kitchen, receiving twin smiles from both Jack and Dean.

“Morning, Sammy,” Dean returned. “Wash up, we’re about to eat.”

“Sam, we’re going to have pancakes,” Jack announced with pride in his voice.

“Really? On a weekday?” Sam wondered aloud, though he knew deep down that Dean didn’t need any special occasion to break out the recipe he had learned at a young age from one of their neighbours at a motel.

“Yeah, after the case in Biloxi the kid wanted to see if there was really difference between those we had at the diner and homemade,” Dean told him with an eyeroll.

“And of course you couldn’t resist the challenge,” Sam fired back with a smile.

“Of course not, even though there’s no challenge when I know that mine are way better than any other pancakes,” Dean replied, puffing his chest for emphasis.

With a fond smile, Sam went back to his room, only to be back in a new record time to the kitchen.

Jack finished first, and after confirming Dean that, yes, his pancakes were truly the best he ever had eaten, he left the kitchen, intent on locating Cas and telling him about what he missed this morning in great detail.

“You know, Sammy, I hate it when I have to admit that I was wrong about something,” Dean began while refilling their coffee cups.

“Yeah, I do, but I’ve also seen you doing it anyway. And to be honest, it never did change anything about the way I saw you, Dean. You’re human, after all.”

“Wow, Sammy. That was… that was pretty philosophical for that early hour.”

“Well, what can I say,” Sam began while scooting closer to Dean, “I had a good run this morning, there’s actually no threat from the supernatural world looming on the horizon, our kid is more and more turning into a mini-version of me, and last but not least, my wonderful brother showered us all with love by serving us a delicious breakfast.”

“Sam?” Dean asked, his forehead creasing in worry. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, never been better. But I finally mustered up enough courage to do something I should have done a long time ago.”

“Yeah, what?”

“This,” and before Dean could come up with another reply of any sort, Sam closed the gap between and placed a kiss on his brother’s lips, swallowing Dean’s squeak of surprise.

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The End

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End file.
